If anyone recalls an article on "Athearn a KITBASHERS DREAM" in model railroader's October 1985 issue, that is if Athearn was the best then. However, the article was done for ho scale back then. And today would that be either ATLAS, KATO,BACHMANN or MODELPOWER locomotives? Lastly is AHTEARN still a "KITBASHERS DREAM" especially with the abundance of manufacturers and N-SCALE around?
Your opinions are welcomed ...
Tom
Tom, I feel it really depends on what your target loco is, as to what makes the best donor loco...
The donor loco needs to have a matching wheel arrangement (drivers at least)... but if we're talking about smaller locos (small driver diameter), the Athreans tender mounted motor means the boiler has plenty of room for modification to suit the new loco outline... most of the weight in the Athreans loco is in the boiler shell and not the mechanism, so you need to keep this in mind when building the new shell... many of the other brands have plastic shells and have much of the weight in the frame, so modifying the frame often means a weight reduction.
Athreans locos do have good kitbashing potential for certain applications, but aren't a be all, end all, solution.
PS. I haven't see the referenced article.
Bryan
I sort of presumed the original poster was refering to Athearn in general, neither steam or diesel. I have taken Athearn boxcars and turned them into Maint. of Way cars before (HO). I see no reason why Atheran/Atlas/Kato or Bachmann couldn't be used as a starting point for many projects.
Jacko
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